This Clever Campsite Cooking Hack Makes Breakfast Prep And Cleanup A Breeze

There's nothing like the scent of sizzling eggs and bacon drifting on the crisp morning air. On a camping trip, the promise of a good, simple breakfast is sometimes the only thing that lures you out of your cozy tent. But most campers dread the cleanup before they even start cooking, whether it's scrubbing a greasy grill or scraping burnt eggs off a pan. Luckily, there's a simple, budget-friendly hack to skip the hassle of all of that: cook your breakfast in a brown paper bag.

Here's how it works. Take an uncoated lunch bag and place your bacon strips in the bottom. Then crack your eggs on top of that, and fold over the top of the bag, sealing your breakfast inside. Take a long, sharpened stick and poke a hole through the top of the bag. Then, hold your bag over or place it directly on the hot campfire coals. After around 10 to 15 minutes, your no-pan breakfast will be ready to eat straight from the bag, no dishes required (and no arguing over who's on cleanup duty).

The one downside to this cooking method is that the bacon doesn't crisp up very much. But YouTuber IntenseAngler has a hack for that. Remove the bacon from the bag and hang it over the same stick you used for your bag. Hold the whole thing over the fire until the bacon reaches your desired level of crunch. Crispy bacon is yours!

If you're wondering how the bag doesn't burst into flames, that's thanks to the bacon grease, which prevents it from igniting. As long as you keep the bag away from the flames, your breakfast won't go up in smoke. That's why bacon and eggs are the go-to for this cooking method: You need something with lots of fat that is also cut thin. (Don't use thick-cut bacon as it takes too long to cook.)

For a little variation, jazz up your bacon and eggs with some add-ins. Cheese is a great choice; just make sure to pop it in the bag near the end of your cooking time so it doesn't burn. Diced vegetables, like peppers, tomatoes, and even potatoes, can also be cooked in your brown bag for a heartier breakfast. And after your breakfast of bacon and eggs, make sure to have the versatile kitchen staple aluminum foil on hand for lunch and dinner. It delivers the same no-mess benefits while letting you cook just about anything, from foil-wrapped stews to gooey campfire desserts.